This invention relates generally to the field of book holding devices which facilitate the maintenance of a bound book in opened condition at a desired page for reading, so that the book and engaged device may be held by a single hand of a standing reader who uses his other hand to grasp a hanging strap or other support in a moving vehicle. Devices of this general type are known in the art, and the invention lies in novel details of structure which permit improved ease of use and more convenient storage as well as lowered cost of fabrication.
Prior art devices have consisted principally of two types. In a first type, a rigid elongate member such as a ruler of the like is provided with a flexible strap, the ends of which are connected to the ends of the ruler in selective fashion. The opened book is positioned in the interstice therebetween. With this type of device, the book must be disengaged each time it is necessary to turn a page, a major inconvenience. Additionally, when not in use, the use cannot be dismantled for convenient storage. A second type of device is in the form of a one-piece clip, portions of which engage both halves of an open book at a top edge thereof at points adjacent the binding to prevent the book from closing. As each pair of pages is read, the right hand page is slipped from engagement beneath the clip, and slipped beneath the oppositely positioned part of the clip, so that reading may continue. This type of device is somewhat more convenient to use than that first described, but, because engagement of the pages is at or near the centrally disposed binding at the top edge of the book, there is a tendency for the device to become accidentally disengaged, particularly in the case of books of larger dimensions. Further, this type of device has no provision for adjustment to compensate for the thickness of the book, as determined by the total number of ages.
Some devices are fabricated using opaque materials, and when portions of the same overlie portions of the printed text of a page during use, it is necessary to manually shift either the page or the device to permit reading of that portion of a page which is otherwise obscured.